Dr. Larry Fennigkoh, P.E. has been named to the 2017 class of the American College of Clinical Engineering (ACCE) Clinical Engineering Hall of Fame for his pioneering work in developing a medical device inventory inclusion algorithm that significantly reduced the maintenance and regulatory burden for many of the nation’s hospitals. He also is being recognized for his application of human factors principles in device incident investigations and the reduction of medical error. He’ll officially be inducted to The Clinical Engineering Hall of Fame during ACCE Members Meeting on June 10, 2017, in Austin, Texas.

Fennigkoh is a biomedical engineering professor in MSOE’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department. The Clinical Engineering Hall of Fame is a recognition program and virtual museum established by ACCE with the purpose of celebrating the application of engineering and managerial skills to support and advance patient care through technology, and honoring the individuals who made extraordinary contributions to this effort.

According to the ACCE, without highly qualified, motivated and dedicated clinical engineering professionals, it would be impossible to deploy technology safely and cost-effectively to prevent and diagnose diseases, as well as treat and rehabilitate patients in any part of the world.

Fennigkoh teaches courses in medical instrumentation, biomedical engineering design, biomechanics, biostatistics, electrical circuits and human physiology at MSOE. His areas of expertise include forensic engineering and control of medical error; medical device-related injuries and deaths; and human factors in medical instrumentation design. He also has chaired or been a committee member on more than 40 Master of Science theses in Perfusion or Cardiovascular Sciences programs at MSOE.

While teaching is his main focus, Fennigkoh is still immersed in industry—much to his students’ benefit. Outside the classroom, he does forensic engineering consulting work on medical device-related patient injuries and deaths—cases which he is often able to tie back to his classroom lectures.

Fennigkoh also serves as a consultant for the Hyperbaric Medicine Department at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee, where he helps with the evaluation, modification and design of medical devices for use in hyperbaric environments. This relationship also resulted in the donation of a hyperbaric chamber to MSOE, where students can get involved in this research and observe basic gas laws in action, as well as evaluate high pressure effects on electronic medical devices.

Fennigkoh holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering Technology and Master of Science in Engineering Management from MSOE. He earned his Ph.D. from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Prior to joining the faculty at MSOE, Fennigkoh led the clinical engineering departments at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center. He has received numerous awards from prestigious organizations, including AAMI Clinical Engineering Achievement Award in 1994, ACCE Patient Safety Advocacy Award in 2006, and inducted fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) in 2009.